Spindle and bearing therefor



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. o. STANLEY.

SPINDLE AND BEARING THEREPOR.

N0. 247,522. Patented Sept. 27,1881.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. C. STANLEY.

SPINDLE AND BEARING TEEEEEOE. A 10.24.7522- Patented Sept. 27,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. STANLEY, F NEW HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

SPINDLE AND BEARING THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,522, datedSeptember 27, 1881.

l Application filed November 17, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, JAMES C. STANLEY, of NewHartford, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Spindles and BearingsTherefor, of which the following isa specification. My invention relatesto spindles and bearings therefor, and particularly to that class ofbearings in which both the step and bolster are connected with areservoir from which oi is supplied. f

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby a spindle shallbe regularly and continuously supplied with oil withoutat any timehaving much more delivered to it than is required for perfectlubrication. I attain this object by the mechanism illustrated in the 4accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation, partly insection, of a reservoir-spindle and adjacent parts ofmy improvedconstruction. Fig. 2 is a modification of the sleeve shown in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a sectional view, with the spindle removed, of the sleeve andcase seen in Fig. 1.

A is the spindle, having the whirl B, which has upon its lower edge theange b, which has upon its outer edge the downward project-inglip, c. c2is a lip attached to the whirl nearer the axis of the spindle, thusforming an inverted annular cup, d, whose edges overlap the lip e, whichextends upward from the case D. This case has formed upon its top by thelip e the cup e', annular in form, theinner rim of which is formed, whenthe parts arein poi sition, by the bolster-sleeve d3, which extendsabove the case D, the outer rim .by the lip e, and the bottom by the topend of the case and the top of the iiange on the bolster sleeve. Thiscup receives all the voil overiiowing the bolster-bearing, ashereinafter described, and prevents waste.

H is a sleeve,comprising the bolster and the step, h being the bolsteror part of the sleeve upon which the spindle bears near the whirl,beginning at the point marked w and extending upward, and being the stepin which the lower bearing of the spindle moves.

The sleeve H and case D are so formed that between them will beanoil-chamber, n, which is filled with any suitable fibrous material, tofilter the oil permitted to enter it or to limit the capacity of theinducts, hereinafter described. Around the upper end of the sleeve isformed a ange, j, to retain it concentric with the case D in an aperturein which it is placed, which aperture is for the greater part of thedepth ofthe case made of considerable greater diameter than the sleeve,and at its extreme lower end only of such diameter as will permit of theintroduction of the sleeve. There will, therefore, when the sleeve isinserted in the case, be formed an annular chamber, n, extending fromthe bottom of the iiangej to the-point where the larger apertureterminates, the bottom of the chamber being the internallyprojectingflange or collar j'onthe case, which comes into contact with the sleeve.The case may, however, be bored through the diameter of the chamber andthe sleeve formed with flanges on both ends, as shown in Fig. 2, if itbe so desired.

In the flanges or collars jj are formed ducts d4, through which the oilenters the chamber n, it being forced in through the bottom duct by thegravity ofthe oil in the reservoir and through the top one by its owngravity from the cup ef. Through the sleeve H are formed inducts of suchcapacity that the oil cannot pass through them in much greater quantitythan is required for perfect lubrication, and also of such capacity thatany such slight excess' of oil which may so pass tothe spindle will bemuch less than its capacity to carry it out over the top of the bolsterby capillary and centrifugal force. These inducts may have theircapacity limited by having their diameter made very small, as shown bythe induct on in Fig. 2, or by having their orifices covered with somematerial which retards the entrance ofthe oil, as shown at m in Fig. 1.Besides these inducts, additional ones," m2, placed near the bottom ofthe upper bearing of the spindle and above thelsurface ofthe oil in thechamber n, may be made, to which ductsthe oil is conveyed by thecapillary attraction of the brous materialjr, placed in the chamber n,and by the draft of the spindle drawn n through them. These ducts beingformed near the lower part of the bearing, the latter will be completelyand perfectly oiled by the upward vcapillary force of the spindle andbolster without any expenditure ofthe power which drives the spindle,whilefat the same time the orifices being IOO above the level ofthe oilin the chamber n and supplied as above described, will have delivered tothem so limited a quantity of oil that the requirements ofperfectlubrication demand nearly all that will be so furnished, and there willbe but little to be carried up and discharged over the top of thebolster.

The capacity ofthe inducts m and m2, when used either together orseparately, is so limited that the spindle will carry any oil whichpasses through them not needed for the lubricationof the step andbolster up out of the sleeve, so that the spindle will be surrounded byair from its bolster to its step in the space marked a.

Upon the outside of the case D is formed a thread, by which it isscrewed into the chamber o, formed in the rail R for an oil-reservoir.From the cup c there are carried down ducts d2, which terminate belowthe thread formed upon the case, so that oil may flow from the cup ceither through the ducts d4, already described, into the chamber n, orthrough the ducts d2, last described, into the oil-reservoir 0. The oil,therefore, which is carried up by the capillary and rotary action of thespindle and discharged over the top of the bolster will run back eitherinto the reservoir or into the case containing the filtering material through its appropriate ducts d* d?.

Upon the `top of the case D is formed the lian ge d3, made concentricwith the bolster h, and of a slightly greater circumference than theflange b upon the whirl. Upon the flange d3 a collar, s, is fitted,which has an inwardlyprojecting ange, t, upon its upper edge, whichoverlaps the ila-nge I) on the whirl.

When the spindle is in position and the collar passed down over it toits place and made fast upon the flange d3, either by a set-screw,bayonet-joint, or in any other equivalent manner, the spindle cannot belifted from its step.

The reservoir o is made to connect with the adjacent reservoirs foradjacent spindles by means ofthe passage p, which is connected at aconvenient place with an oil-cup, through which oil may be supplied toall the reservoirs, whether the spindles are at rest or in motion.

Then the spindle is in operative position and oil has been once suppliedto it, as well as to the reservoir o, and the spindle put in operation,the first effect of the rotation of the saine is, by reason of itstapering form, to carry ont over the top of the sleeve all the oilcontained therein between the step and the bolster, after which thespindle will be in contact with the bolster and step, and not infrictional contact with the sleeve or with a column of oil between thebolster and the step; and as no oil can obtain entrance to the step atthe bottom of the sleeve, and the quantity which can pass through theinducts is very small, the spindle will rotate in air between its upperand lower bearing-points-a result not heretofore obtained in anyreservoir oilin g spindle having its step and bolster connected.

As air is a much thinner fluid than oil, it is manifest that a greatsaving in power is made by bringing it in contact with the spindleinstead of oil upon that part ot' it, and as the oil is supplied nearthe point through the induct m2, which is covered by the brous materialin the chamber noutside the rotation of the spindle, and in suchquantity that little or none from the inflow at this duct is ordinarilycarried up and discharged over the top of the bolster, it is manifestthat much less power is required to drive the spindle than when the oilmust be elevated to the bolster andis continually passing over its top,only to run down and again make the circuit. Itis also evident from thearrangementof parts as shown thatno oil can be wasted by being thrownofi' the spindle, and that it is difficult, if not entirely impossible,for dust or dirt to come in contact with the oil in use.

The duct m being arranged to discharge its oil into the space in thesleeve between the bolster and step, the oil will not come in contactwith the spindle until, after flowing down the interior of the sleeve,it comes in contact with the spindle at the step, and the amount'supplied to the step will be so little in excess of the actualrequirements for lubrication that there will be but little to be carriedupward by the rotary action of the spindle. The spindle, therefore, willbe perfectly oiled without being in frietional contact with' eithermetal or oil between the step and the bolster, and will not be compelledto sustain a column of oil reaching from its lower to its upper bearingto 1ubrieate the latter, while the oil which overflows the bolster isfree to return again to the bearing surfaces without coming in contactwith the air in the mill-room. It will also be observed that I haveprovided a method of keeping the spindle in place which is at once neatand perfect, while the part used to accomplish this purpose is entirelybelow the band, and, besides, being thus out of the way of the band,serves as an additional protection from dirt to the oil-cup of thespindle-case. It will also be observed that by this construction I amenabled to make my spindle smaller and lighter below its bolster-bearingwithout impairing its lubrication or strength, and that by so lighteningit 1 am enabled to produce a spindle which will require less power whenin operation.

fhat I claim as new and of my invention 1s- 1. The spindle A andreservoir o, in combination with the sleeve H, provided with the stepand bolster, the air-space a, and inductm, and the case D, having thelip e, and inducts d2 and d4, through the former of which the oildischarged over the top ofthebolsteris returned to the reservoir, andthrough thellatter of which the oil is supplied from the reservoir tothe spindle, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the case D, having the oil-chamber n, of thesleeve H, extending into said case, and provided with the bol- IOO los

IIO

ster, step, and oil-duct, and the spindle A, adapted to revolve withinthe 'sleeve without frictional contact with either oil or metal betweenthe bolster and step bearings, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the spindle A,.the sleeve H, comprising the bolster hand' the step l, the case D, having chamber n, and the packing fr, thesleeve being provided lwith the induct m2, placed near the top ofthechamber n, which contains the packing r, substantially as described.

4. In combination, the oilreservoir,thecase D, and sleeve H, comprisingthe bolster h and the step l, with the porous packing r, the packingsurrounding the step, sleeve, and bolster, and the whole inclosed in thecase and contained in the oil-reservoir, substantially as described. r

5. In combination with the case D, provided with the flange d3 andspindle A, the Whirl B, provided with the flange b, and the collar s,provided with the inwardly-extending flange t, substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with the spindle A and case D, provided with the lipe, the whirl B, having a lip extending downward within the lip e, andthe lip c, extending downward outside of the lip e, and the collar s,surrounding the lip c, substantially as described.

JAMES C. STANLEY.

Witnesses:

H. W. BROWN, ORRIN FITCH.

